Okay, Straight Back.
Don't Scratch The Door.
Watch Your Fingers.
Okay.
Why Don't You Put It Down Right There?
In With The New, Out With The Old.
Let's Go, Jerry.
You Know Where This Goes?
Yeah, 1268 Hudson.
Right, The Tibideauxs--
My Sister And Brother-In-Law.
They Get The Couch And The Chair.
Got You.
My Mom Wanted Me To Give You This.
Thanks.
Don't Leave.
I Have A Box Of Sondra's Things.
Uh... Pardon Me.
What's Going On?
We Brought Your New Couch.
We're Taking This To Tibideaux.
I Don't Know About This.
Yeah, New Couch Ordered By Mrs. Huxtable.
You Mr. Huxtable?
Doctor.
We'll See You Later, Doc.
No, No.
Bring That Back.
Dad.
How Do You Like The New Couch?
Fine, But Put That Down.
Is This Staying Or Going?
This Is Staying, So Put It Down.
This Goes.
No.
Mom Said It Goes.
Yeah, Well, You're Going.
Put That Down, Please.
She's Doing What Her Mother Asked.
Pardon?
Thank You.
I Better Call Mom And Tell Her About This.
Call Your Mother.
Call Her Every Day.
Call Her All Day Long.
Tell Me Somebody's Moving Something
That I Didn't Give Any Permission.
I Am A Half-Interest Owner
In This Place.
You Understand?
This Has Been My Sofa.
I've Watched Black-And-White Westerns
From This Sofa.
It Has Cuddled Me.
You Understand?
This I Don't Know.
I Don't Know This.
This Will Stay.
If You Have Trouble With Mrs. Huxtable
Tell Her I Said To Leave It.
This Is For You.
Thank You.
And This Is For You.
You're A Real Sport, Doc.
Thanks A Lot.
Take Care.
Have A Good Day.
Don't Worry.
I'll Fix The Door.
Take Care.
Yes, Indeed.
Take My Sofa, Jack.
Couldn't Reach Mom.
She's On Her Way Home.
Fine.
Let It Be That.
I'm Looking At This Thing.
This May Be All Right For Some People.
It Would Be Fine For You And Rudy To Jump On.
But I'm Talking About Life!
They Tried To Separate Us.
It's Here!
I Love It!
It Looks Better Than It Did On The Showroom Floor.
What Is This?
Mom, I Tried, But Dad Overruled You.
You Had A Patient At 4:00.
That's Why I Scheduled The Delivery For Now.
And Thank Goodness My Patient Cancelled
Or Else I Would Not Have Been Here
To See My Wife Stab Me In The Sofa.
We Can Discuss This Later.
I Have News For The Whole Family.
Theo, Rudy, Come Downstairs.
Vanessa, Have A Seat On The New Couch.
The New Couch Came.
It's Nice.
My Son, Sit With Me On The Old Sofa.
When Are We Getting Rid Of This Old Thing?
This Is A Cold-Blooded House.
Okay.
The News Is I'm Going To Be On Television.
Unbelievable! All Right, Tv!
Soul Train!
No.
What Show?
Retrospective.
Never Heard Of It.
It's A Political Panel Discussion.
Intelligent People Get Together And Discuss History.
They Have The Same Three Guys Every Week.
How Did You Get On?
They Want To Liven Things Up.
If It Works Out, I Could Be A Regular.
All I'm Saying Is Watch Out.
You And I Have Watched That Program.
You Know How Those Three Get With Each Other.
They Are Some Nasty Little Men.
You Forget Who You're Talking To.
I've Gone Against Some Of The Nastiest Attorneys
In This City.
I Can Hold My Ground.
Ooh, Go, Mom.
This Is The Set.
And There's The Three Wise Men.
They're Probably Engaged In Some Deep, Philosophical Discussion
At This Very Moment.
Phil, That Is Truly An Incomprehensible Statement.
How Can You Reach Such A Ludicrous Conclusion?
I'm Sorry, But I Stand By My Opinion.
I Believe The Celtics Will Beat The Knicks
In The Garden Tonight.
Mrs. Huxtable?
We're Starting In One Minute.
Your Seat Is On The Left.
Okay.
Dr. Huxtable, You Watch From The Green Room.
There's Coffee And Doughnuts.
Doughnuts!
Cliff?
No Doughnuts.
Break A Brain.
Gentlemen, We're Ready To Start.
This Is Our New Panelist, Clair Huxtable.
I'm Phil Kensington.
Mason Benedict.
Ian Traugett.
I Feel Like I Know All Of You.
I Watch The Show Every Week.
Someone Wakes Up At 8:00 Sunday Mornings.
You Must Be The One Who Shows Up
In Our Ratings.
Ten Seconds.
Quiet, Please.
In Five, Four, Three, Two...
( Theme Music )
Good Morning And Welcome To Retrospective
The Weekly Program That Explores Historical Events
From An Economic, Social And Political Perspective.
I Am Your Host, Ian Traugett.
This Week We Examine The Great Depression
The Bleakest Of Times On The American Landscape.
Was It An Aberration In The Natural Fiscal Cycle
Or Was It An Economic Inevitability?
To Examine This Question
We Are Joined By Our Regular Panelists--
Mason Benedict, Noted Author, Essayist
And Consultant To The Institute Of National Conservatism
Phillip Kensington, Author, Historian
And Founder Of Americans For Democratic Reform
And For The First Time In Our Show's History
We're Introducing A New Panelist--
Clair Huxtable
Attorney And Partner In The Corporate Law Firm
Of Greentree, Bradley And Dexter.
Welcome.
Hi.
I'm Hector.
Nice To Meet You.
I'm Here To Make Sure You Don't Eat The Doughnuts.
Gentlemen And Lady
Who Would Like To Be The First To Journey Into The Abyss
Of The Great Depression?
Ian, First Of All
Your Question Was Half-Baked.
The Depression Was Not An Aberration Or Inevitability.
It Was A Self-Corrective Event In The History Of Our Economy.
A Simple Answer From A Simple Mind.
How Can You Refer To Something As Self-Corrective
When 24% Of The Labor Force Was Thrown Into The Streets?
Children Were On Sidewalks
Selling Apples For A Nickel.
Once Again You're Sweeping Us Through History
In A Canoe Of Tears.
When Will You Liberals Face The Fact
Franklin Roosevelt Kept This Depression Going
With Suffocating Regulations
And Socialist Programs
Like The W.P.A., The P.W.A., The C.C.C. And The N.R.A.?
It Was A Lot Of B.U.L.L.
I Thought The Presence Of A Lady Would Encourage These Gentlemen
To Be More Civil, But I Guess Not.
It's All Right.
I'm The Mother Of Five.
I'm Quite Accustomed To Uncivil Behavior.
You Mentioned The N.R.A.--
The National Recovery Administration.
I Think We Can't Begin To Discuss The Depression
Unless We Examine
The Ramifications Of The Supreme Court Decision Of 1935
Which Declared The N.R.A. Unconstitutional.
She's Cooking, Isn't She?
Rice And Beans.
Nobody Has Addressed
What I Consider To Be A Major Factor:
The Nation's Flawed Banking Structure.
Banking Had Nothing To Do With It.
You're Sending Up Smoke Screens.
It Was A Classic Business Downturn--
An Exhaustion Of Labor And Resources That Led To The Bust.
Actually, That's Not True.
Pardon Me?
In 1929, There Were Enough Raw Materials
To Maintain The Current Rate Of Production.
Do You Have A Source To Back That Up?
The Great Crash By John Kenneth Galbraith.
I Read That Book, And You're Wrong.
I Don't Think I Am.
Ian, You Have The Book In Your Office.
Yes.
Let's Get It.
You'll Be Sorry If We Get The Book.
I Want The Book.
I See That It's Time For A Commercial Break.
We'll Be Back In A Minute.
( Theme Music )
You Know What These Are?
Keys.
Uh-Huh.
Can A Key On That Ring Open The Door Where The Book Is?
Si.
My Wife Wants The Book.
I Know Where The Room Is.
Let's Go.
You Lead The Way.
Andale.
We're Still In A Commercial Break
For Another Minute.
Clair.
May I Call You Clair?
Of Course.
If We Had The Book
I'd Be Proven Correct.
There Weren't Enough Raw Materials In 1929
To Maintain Production.
There Were Enough Raw Materials.
It's In The Book.
There's No Time
To Get The Book.
Who Are You?
We Have It.
The Great Crash By John Kenneth Galbraith.
Fine.
Now We Can Straighten This Out.
Chapter Nine, Gentlemen, Page 173.
Aha.
Okay, Here It Is.
"Raw Materials In 1929 Were Ample
For The Current Rate Of Production."
That Has Very Little Effect On My Argument.
You Were Placing Great Emphasis On That Point.
I Was Not.
You Weren't Listening.
Steve: Here We Go.
In Five, Four, Three, Two...
Welcome Back To Retrospective.
As It Turns Out, Mrs. Huxtable Is Correct.
There Was Ample Raw Material
To Maintain Production In 1929.
It Appears Our Colleague, Mr. Benedict, Is Fallible.
I've Been Aware Of His Fallibility
For 12 Years.
Let's Get Serious Again.
I'd Like To Go Back To Our Discussion.
Did You Want To Add Something?
The Depression Was Ravaging The Nation
When The Market Began To Recover.
The Crash Was A Precipitating Event.
That Is The Most Ridiculous Thing I've...
I Wouldn't Call Her Opinion Ridiculous.
A Bit Naive, Perhaps.
My Opinion Is Neither Naive Nor Ridiculous.
How Can You Have A Discussion
If All Points Are Not Taken Into Consideration?
It's Time For A Commercial Break.
You Just Took A Break.
We're Taking Another One.
We'll Be Right Back.
Steve: Clear.
Steve!
Ian, Why Did You Break?
I Wanted To.
It's Not Scheduled.
I Felt Things
Were Getting Out Of Control.
Ian's Right.
She Was Disrupting.
I Was Participating In The Conversation.
I Don't Think This New Panelist Is Working Out.
Ian, The Station Manager Is Concerned About Our Low Ratings.
We're Trying To Broaden Our Viewership.
Then Let Her Speak On The Black Topics.
Excuse Me.
Black Topics?
Is That What I'm Here For?
You're Also Here To Speak For Women.
I Am A Woman Who Is Black
But I'm Also Knowledgeable About History
Which Is Why I Thought I Was Invited
But When You Look At Me, This Is All You See?
A Black Woman?
No, No, No.
We Have To Get Back To The Show.
Ian, Are You Calm Enough To Continue?
I Guess.
I'll Give It The Old College Try.
Fine.
Quiet, Please.
In Five, Four, Three, Two...
Well, We're Back.
Mrs. Huxtable
We Only Have 30 Seconds Left.
Could You Tell Us
What Effect The Depression Had On The Blacks?
You Want Me To Sum That Up In 30 Seconds?
It's Closer To 20 Seconds Now.
How Did The Depression Affect Blacks?
Well, We Learned That Misery Does Not Love Company.
That's Today's Edition Of Retrospective.
I'm Ian Traugett.
Join Us Again Next Week.
( Theme Music )
Told You
She Could Handle Herself.
Your Wife, La Mujer Perfecta.
How Long Will It Be For Her To Come Down Here?
They Will Take Off Her Make-Up.
Do You Want Some Cuban Coffee?
Yes, I Think I Will.
There You Are.
Whew, Whew.
This Is Angry.
Strong Coffee.
Uh, No, No.
No Good.
No Doughnuts.
My Wife Doesn't
Let Me Have Doughnuts.
Your Wife Won't Let You, Either?
Well, Have Some Coffee.
Have Some Coffee.
Oh, Boy.
Wait.
What Are You Doing?
This Is A Doughnut.
Yeah, I Know
And This Is A Doughnut.
This Is Not A Doughnut.
No.
You Can Have It.
Good.
This Is Not A Doughnut.
Cliff?
Eat Your Pastry.
I'm Just Glad You're Here.
Dear, You Were Absolutely Perfecta.
You Were Estupenda.
Estuve Maravillosa.
Muchas Gracias.
De Nada.
I Just Want To Get Out Of Here.
( Ring )
Hello.
One Second.
Senora, Para Usted.
Okay, Thank You.
Hello.
Really?
Let Me Think About That A Minute.
The Producers Say
It's The Best Show They've Ever Had.
They Want Me To Stay.
It's Up To You, Dear.
I've Thought About It.
The Answer's No, Thank You.
Getting Up At 4:30 A.M.
To Prove Myself To Three Men
Who Are Basking In The Nonexistent Rays
Of Their Own Intelligence Is Not Fun.
That Is Not A Doughnut.
Mom And Dad Better Hurry
Or They'll Miss Their Show.
Guys, I Want You To See What I Did With The Furniture.
I Rearranged It So Both Mom And Dad Would Be Happy.
Wow.
This Is Great.
Theo, They'll Never Go For This.
Ah, This Looks Perfect.
No.
Come On.
Please.
This Is My Couch.
This Is My Chair.
Cliff, Let Go.
I Know How Attached You Are To These Things
But There Comes A Time In Every Man's Life
When He Has To Let Go.
Yeah, And If He's Married, Many Times.
Darling, Let It Go.
Come On, Kids.
Let's Get Our Coats.
What About Your Show?
I'll Tell You About It On The Way To Church.
You Coming?
Just Let Me Have A Minute Here.